IslandGrrl

Beautiful story! I pray that not only will you receive your approval soon, but that your surgery is successful and your recovery easy. Blessings! Bridget

Wonderful!

I didn't have a drain.

Fantastic!

Great job!

Fantastic!

Good Luck! You'll be in my prayers.

My sleeve loves cheese. My sleeve hates Protein shakes. (Every one I've tried post-op makes me nauseous) My sleeve loves chicken. My sleeve hates lettuce. (I miss my salads!) My sleeve loves Soup. My sleeve hates turkey bacon.

As someone who lost and was able to keep off over 100 pounds during my 20s and most of my 30s, I can say that in my experience, it has been much harder as I have gotten older. It is my understanding that the metabolism generally slows down with age, so fewer calories are needed to maintain the same weight. That being said, I have been very happy with my progress thus far. It may not be as fast as in my younger days, but it is certainly better than what it was pre-sleeve. For me, it is all a matter of managing my expectations.

Thank you for the suggestion. It's been ages since I've been to Goodwill, but I will have to check them out! :smile1:

The biggest "con" I've found is having the new, smaller clothes I just ordered on-line be too big for me by the time the shipment arrives. It's costing me a fortune, but it's a "problem" I'm willing to endure! LOL

For me, old full and sleeve full feel very similar, but I usually try very hard to avoid getting all the way to full. I do my best to stop at satisfied because full feels uncomfortable for me now. I don't get hungry post sleeve very often. One of the tricks I've learned is to distinguish between really needing food and the desire to "top off" (which is can be bad for weight loss). It can be harder to make that distinction with sliders like soup and pudding, but I find that it is much easier with more dense protein.

The pace isn't nearly as important as the direction. You're doing great! Inches are just as important as pounds to me. Keep up the good work!

Great Job!

The gall bladder ultrasound was a requirement from my insurance company. In fact, they did a full abdominal ultrasound. As it turned out, my gall bladder was in fine shape, so I can't say what they would do if they found an issue. I do know that for my insurance this was one of the tests that had to be submitted prior to receiving authorization for a surgery date.

Sophia, I'm a mom of 2 teens (one with special needs), work FT as a project manager, and carry a FT load as a graduate student. I had tried to schedule my surgery for the end of summer break, but things didn't work out, and I ended up having my surgery the day before the fall semester began. I will admit that the first week I was foggy and it was a bit of a challenge to get things done, but since then I've been able to keep up with my assignments easily. To be honest, one of the biggest challenges is that now that I'm lighter I tend to go out and do things more, so it takes more discipline to make time to do my course work, but stamina is not a problem. From your posts, it looks like you're a very organized person, I think you will do great!

Even at 3 months out, I'm still amused and pleased by my tiny portions! The thing I'm still adjusting to is that I feel so "normal" that sometimes I put too much on my plate. I just eat until I'm satisfied, and then stop.

After my early stall broke, I quickly developed a pattern. For the past 2 months, I generally lose a pound every other day or so. Sometimes I will stay the same for 3 days and drop 2 pounds, but it seems to average out the same. I'm only 3 months out right now, so I'm still watching to see if this pattern will continue to hold.

I gained about 10 pounds from my first meeting with the surgeon to my pre-op appointment. Even though I'd lost over all, and was still down 10 pounds from my all time high, he was not happy and gave me a right good scolding. Basically, he set a very unrealistic (for me) weight loss goal for my 2 week pre-op diet, and told me that if when he put the scope in, my liver was in the way, he would call off the surgery. I was very upset and relost the weight I'd gained, but didn't make the weight loss goal he'd set by surgery day. Apparently, the weight I lost was enough because my surgery was a success, and at my 2 month follow up, he was very happy with my progress. DoOver gives some good advice. Speak honestly with them, and find out exactly what they expect. I can tell you that the fear of waking up without having the surgery was in the back of my mind almost until I woke up in recovery. If you can avoid that kind of worry, but getting explicit instructions, I'd highly recommend it, if only for your peace of mind.

For those who try the old "eat less and exercise more" (or some variation including the "pretend you had the surgery and eat like that") I cut them off mid-lecture with "I've tried that numerous times and have been unsuccessful, and that is why I'm pursuing this alternative. For those with the horror stories, I curtly say that everyone is different, and that I have done my research and am aware of all the possible outcomes. I then look at them without saying anything more, and they usually drop the subject. In one case, I used the above tactics, and instead of walking away, it opened up a very good conversation about my prior challenges and why I chose VSG. Everyone is different in how comfortable they are in dealing with intrusive questions, but in my case, I've had a lot of success with the direct approach.

My NUT's goals are at least 60 grams of protein and a minimum of 48 ounces of water. What I try and do to fit everything in is to try and stay on a schedule. I eat at specific times, and drink from 30 minutes after to 30 minutes before my next meal. I'll be 3 months out tomorrow, and I can say that the further from surgery I am, the easier it becomes to follow such a schedule.

I had some problems in the early months. Although my GP was supportive, they weren't 100% sure about exactly what the insurance company expected to see. I lost about 3 months, because I was going to the nutritionist and weighing, but no one was capturing all the "right" information in one place. One day, I called the insurance company and spoke with someone who handles the bariatric program. (I can't recall the exact job title.) She told me that medical group (insurance) had a form that captures all the information they need, and that they would send the form to the doctor. At my next visit, the doctor began using the form. I continued to see the NUT for the six months, but I also had a monthly weigh in at the GPs office where I answered questions about my exerceise and some other health behaviors. At the end of the 6 months, both the NUT and the GP submitted their information along with the other requirements. I think having the form made it fast and easy for the GP, and as a result their office seemed to be much more willing to keep the necessary records.

I don't know if this will help, but at 2 months post op, I'd only lost about 31 pounds from my surgery date. I think your weight loss is amazing! Everyone loses at a different pace, and even the same person can have periods where loss speeds up or slows down. After the first month, I settled into a pattern of 2 to 3 pounds per week. I was a little disappointed, but came to accept that it was good progress compared to most of my prior weight loss efforts. It wasn't as fast as I'd hoped, but I came to be content with it. Then, at about 2 1/2 months, something changed. All of a sudden, I began losing inches like crazy and dropped from a 24-22 to a solid 18 in about a week. During that same time, I was losing a .5 to 1 pound a day. Now at almost 3 months (11/22) it is slowing down a bit, and I think it will settle back into my 2-3 pound a week pattern. I understand the disappointment of not losing as quickly as you'd hoped, but try not to be too discouraged! As I'm learning, on this journey, things are always changing.

You will be in my prayers.

I was able to sleep on my left side relatively quickly, and even favored that side a bit while in the hospital. Sleeping on the right side was another matter entirely, it was about 2.5 to 3 weeks before I could sleep comfortably on that side. His2my2our4's suggestion about the pillows really does work.